Hommage á Cziffra – New Generation

There has been a long-standing cooperation between the Hungarian Cziffra Festival and one of Poland’s most prestigious thematic classical musical festivals, through which – among other things- Chopin’s legacy meets the heritage of the legendary György Cziffra.

An emblematic example of the connection between the musical traditions of the two countries is the joint recital of the Cziffra Festival Talent Award-winning violinist and the pianist and assistant professor of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Grzegorz Skrobinski. The two performers will allow the audience to glimpse into the violin-piano repertoire of the turn of the 20th century through the works of six composers. In the first part of the concert, Polish music will play the lead: Wieniawski’s Scherzo tarantella and Szymanowski’s composition inspired by Paganini (op. 40). In the rest of the evening, the audience can relish a programme arching from Bartók to Jenő Hubay: Bartók’s deservedly popular Rhapsody No. 1, whose verbunkos tune intensifies into a fierce festivity, then a rearrangement from the Romanian dances. The 1905 version of Kodály’s famous Adaggio will be played on the violin this time, followed by a virtuoso composition by a celebrated violinist of the early 20th century, Ferenc Vecsey. The recital will conclude with the Carmen Fantasy of Jenő Hubay, the founding father of the first Hungarian violin school.

(An event jointly organised by Cziffra Festival and the Polish Music Festival)

Funded by the Prime Minister’s Office, Gábor Bethlen Fund Management Ltd.